District strives to help students with disabilities | GUEST OP

BY CHRIS LOFTIS
For the Auburn Reporter

I am writing in response to the Kent Reporter’s Jan. 16 article regarding issues and concerns raised about our programming for students with disabilities in Kent School District (KSD) and appreciate the opportunity to provide the district’s perspective.

There are 2,823 students receiving a variety of specialized educational services in KSD. We use the term inclusive education (IE) as it is more indicative of our commitment to all students and our belief that all students can and should be successfully contributing members of our schools and communities.

Knowing student cognitive, physical and emotional strengths vary, we strive to provide appropriate services with the goal of every child achieving at the highest level their capabilities allow.

As federal and state privacy laws prohibit the district from discussing specifics of any particular child’s differing ability or specialized service strategy, some of the specific concerns expressed in the article cannot be addressed publicly.

The article also reports on grievances filed by union members. The grievance process is a system for management and labor teams to work out challenges in a thoughtful, courteous, and effective manner. The district does not comment on individual grievances still in process per our contracted agreement with our union partners.

That said, two things need to be crystal clear – the Kent School District is committed to the safety of every one of our more than 27,000 students, 4,000 staff members and thousands of campus visitors. And just as we are committed to safe operations, we are also committed to respectful, dignified, and successful educational experiences for all students regardless of their abilities or dispositions.

Special or inclusive education programs are available for students who have qualifying disabilities and need specially designed instruction to access their education. Federal law requires all school districts to provide a continuum of services to students who are in special education. Districts are required to provide a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment possible.

Significant resources of time, materials, facilities, equipment and personnel are invested in this noble work. With more than 430 full-time positions focusing on the unique needs of students with differing abilities, more than $37 million will be spent on Inclusive Education this school year in KSD.

By federal statute, student need drives decision making surrounding services for a student with special needs and cost cannot be the determinant factor. Yet the funding to meet those needs is specifically limited by state and federal funders. School districts must then make difficult choices in strategies and tactics to be both successful and in compliance with the law.

These unfunded mandates are but one part of the inherit challenges in delivering unique and tailored system-wide services. The sheer number and variety of individual needs coupled with sometimes complicated methodologies, and the strong beliefs and convictions by the various parties involved, make this very important work also very difficult work.

The school district is proactive in its approach and along with the challenges, there are successes every day. In the past two years, we have had multiple successful program and practice audits performed by independent state and national organizations specializing in the delivery of special education programming in public schools. Among our successes and innovations:

• The KSD Autism Cadre provides consultation and support for students and families impacted by autism and other disabilities.

• Assistive technology services provide a wide-array of support for students accessing curriculum and allows multiple ways of showing content mastery and understanding.

• IE staff are integral to the district support team at the building level.

• The Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC), composed of parents, staff, teachers, administrators and other stakeholders who want to improve the practice of special education, meets on a regular basis and offers both parent and staff training.

• The district partners with our teachers union, the Kent Education Association, with regularly scheduled advisory committee meetings designed to improve special education programming system wide.

With regard to broad concerns expressed in your article:

• Injuries in IE classes – As a public school system, there is an obligation to serve all students. In many of the IE classes students are served who have needs that are related to their emotional and behavioral dispositions. In all, KSD activities and practices, every effort is made to minimize any danger and the district collaborates with staff by providing technical assistance, professional development, and support ensuring these emotional challenges are met safely. If a student is demonstrating unsafe behaviors over a period of time that are beyond the capacity to support at a particular district location, the district works to secure other placement options or service strategies that will improve safety and effectiveness.

• Consistency in IE approach from school to school – Each student on an individualized education plan (IEP) has supports and services directly related to the individual needs of the student. The IEP teams are made up of staff, family and supporters and discuss what supports and services need to be in place to ensure effective and safe education. Adherence to due process rights provide a pathway for teams to resolve problems.

• Deployment of materials and supplies – The IE office regularly and appropriately provides curriculum, support, and supplies, to teachers, psychologists, speech language pathologists, social workers, and other staff working on the front lines with students. There is a streamlined request process to provide both the physical resources as well as consultation, observations, and direct support in programs throughout the 41 buildings. We recognize the need to make changes to some of our materials so they are better aligned with the new Common Core state standards. That process is under way.

• The use and location of safety rooms – There are 14 safety rooms across our 41 schools that are used very infrequently and very briefly for students that are displaying significantly disruptive and/or aggressive behavior that might put them or others at risk. The rooms are not used for punishment, but are used to de-escalate disruptive or aggressive behaviors of special needs students and only as provided in the students’ IEP. The location and utility of safety rooms is a matter that is regularly reviewed.

• Systemic challenges and communication – IE leaders are regularly at the schools and meet with IE staff. Extensive tailored professional development, technical assistance, and problem-solving support is offered.

In closing, in any special education programming there will always be challenges, there will always be passionately expressed concern by caring families and committed professionals, and there will likely always be a lag in needed resources along with changing service standards from funding sources.

But in KSD, we have a continuously improving system with a goal of safely and effectively meeting student needs. We care passionately for every one of the children in our care and we are committed to providing and maintaining a system of resource deployment that best meets the learning and dignity needs of each and every student/family in KSD and meets the safety and educational standards of our very professional and caring staff.

Chris Loftis is the executive director of communications and school/community partnerships for the Kent School District.